Thanksgiving Break

Sorry I haven't updated, but I have been enjoying my time off. My parents are the main people I write this blog for and I've been spending most of my time with them.
Let's get started!



My alarm clock went off at 6:30 AM on Monday and I fumbled out of bed. I could not remember the last time I was this tired or had to run on 3 hours of sleep. Having 11 AM clinicals rid me of not getting enough sleep. The bad thing was that I didn't get home until midnight from clinical and I still hadn't finished packing.
I finished packing everything in my bag and put Alley in her carrier.
The poor cat meowed the entire drive to the airport. I was terrified. My worst nightmare was coming true. Once I got out of the car and hopped on the bus from the parking lot to the terminal, she didn't make a peep. Thank goodness. I checked my bags and headed towards the security check point. They informed me that I had to take her out of her carrier and hold her while I walked through the metal detecter. I thought they were joking because up to this point they had made the biggest deal about keeping her in the carrier. I was scared she would jump out of my arms. Anyways, we made it through that and everything was fine.
Since I arrived 2 hours before my flight took off (they advise to get there really early if you have pets), I got 3 out of the 4 things I needed to turn in that day by email for school. Alley started meowing a bit and I found myself trying to calm her the way you would a baby. I noticed this and stopped. I've obviously been around too many newborns. No more rocking and shushing. I was finally hungry and got some breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels. 

Cinnamon Raisin with cream cheese

Alley in the terminal 

We boarded the plane and grabbed our seat. I was the last one on the plane and was relieved when I realized the seat next to me was empty. More room for my feet and Alley! The girl two seats over was very nice and asked me questions about Alley and even interacted with her. I was scared I would be placed next to someone who hates cats. I got quite the opposite. 

I was shocked the plane was't full this close to going into a holiday weekend.

Alley under the seat

My parents picked me up from the airport and we drove home. I hadn't seen my Dad in 2 months and it was great to see him and my Mom.

When I walked in the door I was greeted by Miss Penny Lane.

We brought Alley into my room to secure her away from the dogs. She isn't used to them and they aren't used to her. She hasn't been home to Texas since the move back in January. 

It's been a hard transition for her, but she is making progress. She is used to being the only pet and now has to tiptoe around the dogs. She will be staying here in Texas for the remainder of her days. I don't want to put her through the transition again for my own personal needs. It's going to be lonely going back to Durham without her =(

My parents and I decided to go eat some barbecue for lunch.

I was shocked to find out that my parents had made a sneaky purchase while I've been away. They purchased a 3D TV and had it mounted on the living room wall. We spent the afternoon watching a 3D Blu Ray of sharks.

My parents were sweet enough to get all the Christmas decorations up before I came into town.

It got me in the Christmas spirit all over again. 

In case I haven't mentioned it 1,000 times, it's my favorite time of year.

We've made several Sonic drink runs over the break.

Lance and I aren't separated by several states, but we are still far away. I've known since August he wouldn't be making it home for Thanksgiving break, but I still miss him. He is stuck in Houston studying for finals. How evil is it to have a final the Monday after Thanksgiving break?

Tuesday evening I saw Breaking Dawn with Angela. I went back to her place to visit with her, Chelsie, and Trinity. It was great to catch up because I had not seen them since the wedding in September.

Alley moved from being under the bed to on top of it.

Having someone else make your smoothies makes them taste so much better!

Watching the parade on Thanksgiving

We got a walk in on Thanksgiving morning.

Thanksgiving "dinner" started at 3 pm at my cousins house. I started out with a glass of wine and relaxed a bit.

My cousin's family got a new puppy that they rescued. Her name is Milly and she was found weaving in and out of traffic =(

The boys playing guitars

Aunt Sandra setting up the kids' plates

My plate

The cool thing was that my cousin's neighbors are from Australia and they have been invited to several of our American holiday get togethers. She brought along two of her Australian dishes and I loved them. Their kids are around my cousin's kids ages and they all play together. Speaking of play, I played several rounds of hide and seek for a couple of hours. I was exhausted. 

Taylor played with my hair

Baby Sloan has grown so much!

Friday was the designated day to put up the lights on the house. I always help out my Dad and it was the last bit of decorating that had not been done. We started around 9:30 AM and then took a break. I had plans to have lunch with Katie in Fort Worth. I got to spend some time catching up with her and made my way back home around 2. 

My Dad and I got back to it.

I swear this is the last year we will be doing icicle lights. They get tangled and they are annoying. Life would be simpler without them.

Just like last year, Hal showed up to "help".

Hal boy

We finished right around dark. The bushes still need lights, but we will get to those later.

I finished up one paper on Saturday and submitted it.
I have a huge paper for my Research class that was originally due tomorrow. It has been given an extension and now I have until Friday.
I caught up with Lindsay at lunch today. I'm glad I got to catch up with everyone over the break.
I spent this break relaxing and enjoying time with friends and family. I'm sad that it is coming to an end, but I know I'll be back in a few short weeks!

Mind Mapping

The leaves peaked and are now all falling off leaving the limbs bare. It makes me sad.

I'm hoping I'll get to see some color changes all over again during the time I spend in Texas.

A couple of trees still display their bright colors.

I did get my outline finished for preeclampsia on Thursday evening. I was so happy to get that portion out of the way and be done with it.

Alley kept me company.

 I slept in this morning after a 12 hour shift yesterday.

I heard about some fancy erasable colored pencils and made my second trip up to Office Depot. I'm so glad that I did. 

My mind map project started around 1:30 pm.

I started out with plain paper and pencil to get my ideas flowing. 

It was pretty pathetic, but I started to get the hang of it.

Yes, that is supposed to be a uterus. 

I started to change the flow of it.

I decided I can't even draw a simple uterus and decided to trace one off of the computer and cut it out to use as a stencil. 

It's a cuterus! 

The first sketch was too small. That was the biggest challenge: filling up the page without running out of room.

The final sketch before the real thing.

The beginning.

I needed a baby drawing. Guess what? I suck at drawing those too.

I gathered another image and sketched it out to use as a stencil.

Look at my little fetus!

Finally getting somewhere.

 Here is the final product.

My favorite part is that the interventions are surrounding the baby. I like to think that the interventions are allowing for that baby to stay in the uterus just a bit longer so it can get strong and healthy. I colored the baby pink for a reason. A pink baby to be symbolizes health.

I compiled everything into my folder. It's ready to be turned in tomorrow.

I joined Pinterest a couple of weeks ago and now I understand how addicting it can be. 

Look at the cute puppy! =)

I spent the rest of the day and evening doing laundry and packing.

I packed everything that I can up to this point.

I'm so close to going home!!!!!!

You've got yours and I've got mine

Not a lot is going on with me. I spent the rest of the weekend studying for a maternity exam that I had today. I spent a little time on my mind map that is due Sunday. I'm a little stressed out about it. I should have started on it weeks ago...but I've been so smashed with other schoolwork that it just hasn't happened. 

I'm worn out from today's exam and have decided to take the evening off from schoolwork. I'll get hard to work tomorrow and try to finish up my outline and do the drawing on Saturday. It won't be my best work, but it will have to do for now.

For some cheering up...here are some of my favorite Christmas commercials that I found on YouTube:

We had a panel of nurses that specialize in different things come in to talk in our Leadership class today. Some were in neuroscience, one was a CRNA and also a professor here at Duke, one was in critical care and I forgot the other...oops...don't tell. They explained a lot of what they do and we got to ask questions. 

I do get to sleep in tomorrow an hour later than normal. We do not have community health. It will be nice after getting up early this morning to get some last minute reviewing in for the exam. 

I'm off to relax. It is going to be nonstop between now and flying home on Monday.


Happy Birthday Daddy!!!
The most selfless and caring man I know.